The Last and the Only: Remembrance of the Lost
by Vilinye
Summary: This planet doesn't have Sontarans. It doesn't have mad scientists or odd merchants. In fact, it doesn't seem to have anyone at all. But what's waiting here is an adventure the Doctor and his friends never saw coming...
1. Prolouge

"Honored Debater, have all preparations been made for the rites of passage?"

The aqua- hued beast shook the wolf's-head fur on its forehead, waving its spindly arms. "Arrangements have been made with Ryelaari, Varlpiloth, Ensidra and Glomar to accept the candidates, but some well remain here, due to a lack of offworld slots."

"Will they be able to complete the rite here?" The second one asked.

"You worry too much. The czar of Varlpoloth has agreed to send a vessel on a supposed diplomatic mission. They will be arriving at 2618 tomorrow."

"And have the lots been drawn for the assignments?"

"That would be a breach of confidence."


	2. Chapter One

Luke sprang up the attic stairs, taking them two or three at a time. This visit home was meant to be a surprise—he hadn't told anyone that he was coming. He was looking forward to seeing them all again—Rani, Clyde, Sky, even Maria.

"Hello? Hello, is anybody here?" He called as he opened the door.

He'd been so busy lately that he was looking forward to a normal evening with friends and family. "As normal as it ever is around here," he amended. "We aren't exactly known for normal activities, after all." He wondered where they all were. The house was quiet. "Mr. Smith, I need you!"

For once, he opened without the customary fanfare. "Mr. Smith, can you tell me where everyone is?"

"Luke, how nice to see you," Mr. Smith replied. "They are out right now."

"Do you have any idea when they'll be back?"

"Unknown."

"Then I'll just wait. " His eyelids were so heavy. So very heavy.

* * *

The Doctor giraffe-stepped down a corridor. "Wonder what it's made of—seems like a plant, but feels more like rubber. I suppose rubber is a sort of plant, after all. There's rubber trees somewhere on earth, aren't there?"

"What are you saying?" Gwen asked, fluttering from side to side. The hallway was wide enough for flying, at least five meters wide and two stories tall. "I never understand what anyone's saying, you or Luke."

"Keep hanging out with us long enough and it will make sense, I promise you." The Doctor looked down the hallway. "Strange, we haven't met any other life forms yet. I would have expected to find something by now. It's not very often I get to see a planet without something trying to kill me. Can't remember the last time that happened, actually. Generally I end up running into Cybermen or Sontarans or Daleks , although one time there was that nasty alien rot up in the attic. Well, not the attic, but the second floor that wasn't the second floor. It was an alien spaceship."

"See what I mean?" Gwen pouted. "I have no idea what you're trying to say."

"We should have met something by now, that's all."

A soft noise whistled through the hall. "Did you hear that? Gwen asked.

"I didn't hear anything. And I have very good hearing."

""Anna! It's Anna," Gwen's voice rose to a helium squeak. She beat her wings faster, leaving the Doctor behind.

"Gwen, wait for me," the Doctor called, but she didn't listen. As she flew on, the halls changed to stark white. The old pain returned to her head, but she overlooked it as a door whined open at the end of the hallway. She flew through, into a room full of wires, dials, and laboratory equipment. The only homely elements of the whole place were a rough bed and a shabby table. Standing by the table, back to Gwen, was a woman whose dark hair couldn't hide the wrinkles on her face.

"Anna!" Gwen flew across the room, landing on her friend's shoulder like a pirate in one of the old movies Anna had bartered off a Time Agent a few years ago.

"I told them you weren't feeling well, so they won't come in. "

"Won't they want to check?" Gwen asked.

"I told them it might be contagious. "

Gwen frowned. "But I'm not sick."

"Well, then, that's your first lesson. Faking. You, my dear friend, have to learn how to fake. Telling something that isn't true is an important skill."

"But they'll know. They have electrodes wired in my head, they can tell."

"Well, at least you have me to lie for you this time. What would you like to do?"

"Movie."

"Again? That's what we did last time."

"I fell asleep last time. But it was funny "

"I've heard it's an Earth classic." Anna pulled up the antique screen. So old it didn't use thre-de frames, it was all she could haggle off the merchants. "And I'll flitch some extra rations from the store. Movies always go better with munching."

Gwen yanked a pile of blankets off Anna's bed and began arranging them into a pile on the floor.

Anna walked out and returned a moment later with something on a platter. "Look what I got. I've been saving it for a special occasion, and I think this qualifies."

"What is it?"

"It's a steak. Rich, dripping steak. My grandmother used to talk about the days when she was a little girl, before they outlawed natural meat. One time she had steak.." Anna took a knife and platter from the cupboard above her bed. "I think it's supposed to be cut up."

"It smells good."

Anna took a plate and set it down in front of Gwen. "Will you want a fork or not?"

"Fork." Gwen declared. "It makes me feel more like you."

"Then have this one, I can get another." Anna reached up and grabbed another plate.

Gwen fumbled with the fork, letting the juices stain her cheeks. "Good, so good. Better than the rations."

Anna took another bit, nibbling on it. "I should be eating this slowly, but…it's so good."

* * *

"Gwen! Gwen, get back here." The Doctor ran after her, legs pounding against the floor. "What have I told you about running off? I've told you about not running off, haven't I?" He turned down another hallway. "The readings aren't staying constant. One moment she's down this path, and the next she's in another dimension." He turned to the left, pausing to scan the wires and pipes covering the walls. "They aren't hooked up to anything. That's odd. Really odd. But then that's me all over, isn't it? Odd is my middle name, or it would be, if I had a middle name. "

"Debater Eldetha, there are problems with the telepathic technology."

"You are not supposed to speak to your overseer during the rites."

"But this man has not settled on a corridor yet."

"Some take longer than others. "Eldetha glanced at the readings. "He's on his third corridor right now—the highest ever seen was four, by that merchant on Glomar. I will not act unless extraordinary measures are required. Continue your exercises."


	3. Chapter Two

The Doctor waved his hands. "Running off, always with the running off. I keep telling them not to run off, and do they listen to me? No, of course not. I better keep looking for her, there's no knowing what kind of trouble she might get into…"

He turned from the rubbery hallway into one made of black marble. Round etchings, great circumscribed circles covered the walls in their own texture. Some of them resembled ones found on the TARDIS screens, but others were even more complex, full of lines and cracks like human faces.

As he rounded the corner, the walls abruptly changed to billowing white sheets. Whipping like laundry on a windy day, they closed and opened just ahead of his passage. "Why do I feel like I'm in a trap? No, it can't be a trap. Why would it be a trap?" As one sheet blew past him, he rolled his eyes. "Another hallway? Maybe this is a labyrinth on some strange leisure planet. Or some psychoanalytic planet, 'cause Freud wasn't the first one to discover it, not by a long shot, in fact, it worked much better on his home planet. Anyway, this isn't working, I just want to find them and leave. We were going to visit Aggarolla, the artificial planet of roller coasters. The coasters are measured in actual g's!" He lowered his voice to a whisper. "It's not really called Aggarola, it's just how they interpret people's screams."

The hallway twisted at a sixty-five degree angle, changing from squishy orange dough to leopard-print fabric. "Why does the background change anyway? I still don't have a choice about which way I go. Maybe they have really crazy decorators here." The hall twisted and wove like a loose strand of yarn. "After 920 degrees of twisting, he saw something strange ahead. "A door?"

It was plain grey, no handle or bolt. "I'm not sure of what this door is made of, but I can't get any readings. This could be good or bad. Well," he took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

He pressed his hand against the door. It swung open at his touch; he walked inside without looking back.

* * *

"He's found the door. Ten hallways later, he's found it." Debater Eldthara double-checked the readings. "Maybe he isn't human after all. There are certain signals contrasting with the initial diagnostics… "

"There's so much to draw from. His memories are so old, painted in eleven different hues. Mixed in such curious ways. " The speaker stared into the distance, eyes fogged with introspection. "So young, yet so old. So silly and sad."

"Listener Dratan, I suggest you focus on your subject " Eldthara turned to Quadani's frame. "An interesting choice. Let's see if you can sustain it."

* * *

Gwen bounced on the sheets. "His name is Inigo Montoya, you killed his father, prepare to die. He is a weapon man, like me."

Anna's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Not quite. His father died; Inigio wants to avenge him." She took the plates, dumping them in a basin of water and scrubbing with an old rag.

"Father? Is that another word for trainer?"

"No," She scrubbed harder, nearly cracking the plate. "A father is a man who takes care of his children. "

"I don't understand."

"No, you wouldn't. " Anna 's hair fell across her eyes. "You were made in a lab, with bits of DNA hobbled together, no more than a great big game to them. But I was born into a real family, with a mother and a father who loved me. Then snatchers grabbed me from the Leytonian Cluster." She pushed her hair back, leaving a tiara of soapy bubbles across her dark hair. "My life has been only a financial investment since. My other masters spent it as they saw fit, with no one to stop them. At least here I have you."

"I still don't get it." Gwen glanced up from the screen. "What are you saying?"

Anna flung a dish to the ground. "No, you wouldn't get it at all! Gwen, there's more to this world than this tiny asteroid. And I'm never going to see it again! Never. Never again."

* * *

Luke rubbed his eyes. "That's not comfy. Not comfy at all. Clyde, why did you let me fall asleep on the stairs? You could have given me a jab or something when I started to nod, even helped me onto the couch." He rubbed the back of his knees. "And I fell asleep in my shoes. I understand always needing to always be ready for alien invasions, but really, how long does it take to yank on a pair of trainers? "He paused for a moment. "I'm talking to myself. I need to stop doing that, or I'll be as doolally as the Doctor soon."

The door swung open. "Luke? Luke, what are you doing back so soon, it's only been a week, homesick already?"

The words were thick cotton balls stuffed into his ears. It was the voice, more than the words that surprised him. He knew this voice. But why was she here?

The soft uneasiness was followed by a louder voice of reason. Of course she was here, why wouldn't she be? He stood up. "Hello, Mum,"

"Welcome home, Luke."


	4. Chapter Three

The door opened to a place he knew well in a strange time. The River Thames, muddy and choked with metal debris, traced a smeared line between rubbish heaps on the far side and rough buildings on the near. But standing by the water was a woman in a curiously long, elegant robe. Her dark hair was still cropped short, after all this time. "Hello, Grandfather."

"Susan," he gulped, running his fingers through his floppy hair. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never came back-"

"It doesn't matter. Oh, Grandfather!" She embraced him. "After all this time!"  
"Still in your first regeneration, I see." The steady beat of her hearts was a soothing rhythm.

"What's this, your third?"

"Eleventh, actually. I make a habit of saving the world. Mostly Earth. Fairly hazardous job, but I wouldn't trade it for anything." He sat with his legs dangling off a heap of concrete, just listening. "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Susan? A very long time."

* * *

Gwen broke away. "I don't know, I just don't know. Can't we sit back and watch the movie?"

Anna wiped her face on her sleeve. "I'm sorry, Gwen. This isn't your fault. It's not your fault. But someday Scen's going to come down here—I can't keep holding off the buyers forever. Someday he'll realize you're ready and sell you. Or if not, he'll terminate you. And I'll be thrown into the training wring as an extra exercise for the Sontarans or Cyberman."

* * *

"You are losing control, Quadani."

"But this is it what I choose. The memory I selected is playing on its own."

"You're just playing back a memory? That will see you downgraded on the results. I'm trying to create a new scenario."

"Oh, shut up, Dratan. You always have to be the overachiever, don't you? As long as I pass, I don't care. I can go anywhere then, once I've got that badge at last."

"Stop arguing, and let the others concentrate."

"Yes, Debator Eldthera."

* * *

Luke buried his head in her shoulder, squeezing her tightly. "It's good to see you too, Mum, I've missed you a lot."

"So, bring the dog home with you?"

"K9? Oh, I thought I'd leave him home." His cheeks were wet; it must have been raining when he came in, because why would his cheeks be wet? He wasn't crying.

"Luke, you're going to squash me like a jammie dodger."

"Sorry, Mum," Luke let go of her. "I'm just glad to see you."

"So, what have you been up to?"

"Not much. Labs, exams. Sanjoy's got a girlfriend now, Clarissa. She keeps saying she could find me one of her mates if we ever wanted to go on a double date. Me. Dating." He shrugged. "Wouldn't Clyde be shocked?"

"I think he'd go straight to teasing. But you've grown so much in the past few years."

"I don't think I'm getting any taller."

"Not that way." Sarah Jane sat down on the couch. "Life is never what you think it will turn out to be. Sometimes, the worst parts lead to things more amazing then you could imagine. I spent my whole life wondering about my parents. But if I'd grown up with them, I might not have taken Lavina's ID and snuck into UNIT…never met the Doctor. And I can't imagine how my life would have turned out then.

"It's a little like walking into a dark maze. With each turn, you get further away from where you started, until there's no way home. Some people are frightened by that idea, and choose to stay where they started. But if you keep exploring, there's no knowing where you'll end up. Sometimes it leads to a whole new landscape that you've never seen before. Sometimes it will take all your courage to keep going. And sometimes, it will take you to the most precious place in the universe-it will take you back home. "

She laughed. "I sound like Doctor Seuss. But listen, Luke, don't ever, ever let them sell you short. You saved the world on the day you were born, and you have kept up the habit ever since. You have people who understand the things you've seen—I didn't know how to explain what I'd done so anyone would try to understand. I was lost in the maze, waiting for someone to come along and show me the next step. But when I finally met the Doctor again, I realized that I couldn't go back to that life. Rose was there now; someday she'd be where I was. Even if she didn't know it, she showed me that everything has a time and season. Mine just happened to come in a different order, that's all. But I'm so glad to have you and Sky, and Maria, Rani and Clyde."


	5. Chapter Four

"How did you escape the Time War? " The Doctor asked, staring at her for a moment. "I thought all the others were destroyed. Except the Master, but I never really thought he'd stay dead. "

Susan stared at him. "Grandfather, whatever do you mean?"

"Susan, there was a war. A terrible war, the last war between our people and the Daleks."

"Yes?"

"The Time Lords were going to let the universe fall to pieces, just so they could ascend to become gods. That's the last thing the universe needed. Time Lord Gods. So I sealed them in a Time Lock."

"Them?"

"The whole planet. We're the only ones left, Susan." The Doctor pulled the sonic from his pocket and stared at it. "I destroyed Gallifrey."

"I don't understand." Susan's voice pitched higher. "It's gone? How can it be gone?"

He pressed his forehead against Susan's and sighed. "It's gone, Susan. " He took a step back, trying not to blink as he stared at her. "And so are you."

"But it's me. It's me, Grandfather."

"No, it's not. It's a hologram or memory weave or something, but it's not you. If it was you, I'd have felt the telepathic influence. All that was in your mind were echoes of my own thoughts. I knew from the moment you spoke that you weren't real."

Susan's robe began to blur at the edges. "Then why …Grandfather, why did you tell me?"

"Because," He squeezed her hand as it dissolved. "For a moment, I could pretend that someone could forgive me. "

"I forgive you. Whatever you did, I forgive you." Her eyes were the last part to fade.

The Doctor covered his face with his hands. "Susan. Oh, Susan…I'm sorry."

"The subject broke free! It's supposed to gradually fade on the projector's control, not break abruptly like that!"

"Check his associates, they might be similarly affected."

The door whined open, barely giving Anna time to turn off the screen. "Make the subject ready for an exhibition." Scen declared.

"It isn't feeling well."

"Too bad. It had better preform or it will feel even worse. And use the neuron electrodes this time."

"But they aren't fully tested. The last time caused severe pain."

"The buyer is very interested,"

Gwen cowed behind Anna's legs. "No, no."

"Yes, yes." Scen kicked Gwen. "Now, obey."

Anna trudged over to the wall and pressed a few buttons. A square section of the wall slide out, revealing a glass cube.

Gwen fluttered over to the box, tumbling into it.

Just as the room began to blue, a man dressed in tweed and a bowtie ran through the door. "Gwen, this isn't real. You have to wake up. Wake up! Don't you remember me? I'm the Doctor, remember me, remember me." He grabbed her shoulder. "This isn't real!"

"He's breaking down the walls. Set to safety disengage; let them out without damage."

"I can't, the last one seems to be running on its own. It won't respond to any commands."

"Mum, I don't understand. Why are you talking like this? I'm just home for a visit, and you're talking like I've been away for a long time. Did I get trapped in a time loop up at Oxford or something?"

"No, it's not you. It's me." Sarah Jane brushed back a lock of hair from her face. "Don't you remember where you were before?"

"I was on a trip."

"What kind of trip?"

"An amazing trip…with the Doctor…I was with the Doctor." Luke's eyes widened. "How could I forget that?"

"I'll explain in a moment. Luke, I'm so glad I got to see you again. I want to you know how much I love you. You are an amazing young man. Tell Sky that I love her too; I wish she was here so I could tell her myself. "

"Mum?" Luke fought the urge to step away. "Something's wrong, what's wrong?"

"You have amazing friends who care about you. And they'll be there for you when you need them. You're growing up , Luke. You don't need me anymore."

"I'll always need you."

"No, you won't. Anyway, that super brain of yours is missing something very important."

"What?"

"This has been a dream, Luke. A wonderful dream, but it's time to wake up." She hugged him one last time and stepped away. "One, two, three, four, Doctor's waiting at the door." The words came in a sing-song chant.

"Mum?"

Her fingers dissolved into silver light, spreading up her arms and throughout her body, leaving her smile for last.

The Doctor and Gwen burst into the room. "Luke, it's an illusion…an…" His words trailed off. "Luke?"

"Doctor," he whispered. "It was my mum,"

The Doctor tightened his jaw. "Stay here. I have business to take care of. Gwen, do you want to come or not."

"I'll stay here." Gwen agreed, pressing against Luke.

"It broke on its own, it broke on its own. The hologram developed self-awareness; it shouldn't do that. It was not supposed to do that." Zatan babbled.

"Hold yourselves together" Debator Eldthara declared.

The Doctor stormed through the door. "Just what do you think you're doing"

_You don't need to yell, your psychic echoes are loud enough that even the uninitiated could understand._

"I don't like people messing around inside my head. And that goes double for my friends. What were you doing with them?"

Eldthara spoke aloud. "It is a rite of passage for our young to read the mind of another species and produce a memory in physical form. There are chemicals in the air to deaden pain sensors— we don't want to hurt anyone."

"I'm not talking about that sort of pain. You stick your tendrils in other peoples' minds; you took my friends and saw things they should have been able to keep to themselves. Gwen was built to be a weapon—you made her remember that. My friend Luke just lost his mum and you let him think she was still here, just for a moment.

"I know how that feels. I lost my whole planet, everyone I've cared about has left me. And if ever, for a moment, I thought there was another of my people left and then it was a hoax—" He took a deep breath. "You should be afraid. Very afraid. Does the word Time Lord mean anything to you? What about Gallifrey?"

Eldthara shook her head. "Only as a name in your mind."

" That's all it is now. Just a name and a memory. But it's my memory, not yours. Not for anyone else to view for pleasure."

"You won't take my word for it," she squared her shoulders. "Then take my memories."

The Doctor stared at her.

"Look into my mind then, Doctor. Zatan will bring your friends here. Then take any memory you choose and show it to them."

Zatan left the room and returned a few minutes later with Gwen and Luke.

"Do you choose to take the memory I offer?" Eldthara repeated.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, I think we should just go. Come along, Smith. And Gwen."

Luke sat on his bed, ignoring the ringing phone with caller ID reading HOME.

The Doctor knocked on the door. "Hey, can I come in?"

"It's your TARDIS." Luke muttered, but he opened the door.

"That doesn't always mean I can get inside. Things move and shift, and I can't always find what I'm looking for, but I found something that I thought I'd lost a long time ago. Want to come and see?"

"Sure."

Luke stood up. "Where's Gwen?"

"In the kitchen, trying to find some steak. I guess having some empathy play around your brain cells makes you hungry, at least it does for her. Just makes me grouchy." He turned left, right, passed two hallways and then opened another door. "I thought I lost this room at Logopolis, but I guess it was still in the memory banks or something, cause here it is."

"What is it?"

"It's your mum's old room."

Luke swallowed hard. "Thanks, but…not now. Maybe later, but not now."


End file.
